LAP dancing clubs in Coventry and Warwickshire could face a battle to stay open under a change in licensing laws.

Three clubs in the region will have to apply for a new “sexual entertainment licence” by April unless their existing licence can be transferred to meet the new regulations.

The ruling comes as a further hurdle to the clubs as it gives the public and authorities another opportunity to object to their operation.

Shades Gentleman’s Club in High Street, Leamington, is already being strongly opposed by the town’s Green Party.

Coventry’s Club Heat in the City Arcade, which also faced public opposition to its opening and Caz Bar in Union Street, Stratford, will both be subject to the new legislation.

Ian Davison, of the Green Party in Leamington, said: “It’s bad for the town to have even a small element of this seedy culture where women are treated as sex objects.

“I fear for the safety of women residents as sex clubs increase sexual desire without satisfying it. Studies have shown that these clubs increase sexual assaults in the local area.”

Objections to the three clubs cannot be on moral or religious grounds, but specific to the venue. Factors include levels of violence, drug or alcohol-related crime and the distance to certain venues such as schools and churches.

Councillors may also decide not to allow any sexual entertainment licences to be granted.

Rob Ransford, owner of Shades Gentleman’s Club, said: “We work hand in hand with the police and the licencing authority and are doing no wrong.

“We don’t have any instances or problems with the police. All of a sudden, because we are changing our licence, the Green Party is objecting.

"I have given them a formal invite to come along to the club and speak to the dancers about their work here but they have declined.

“It now means that more people can object, but it has to be a viable objection. It can’t just be because they don’t want it in Leamington.”

Speaking of the issue of a new licence for Club Heat, a Coventry City Council spokesman said: “There will be a period of public consultation before the new licences are introduced.

“At that point we will look at existing licences and see whether they need to apply for the new kind of licence or whether it is a simple transfer.”

Any venue wishing to host sexually explicit dancers – male or female – more than 11 times a year are required to have the new licence.

Before pubs and clubs were not required to apply for a licence as part of the sex industry in the same was as cinemas or sex shops.